Rail-tie structure.



M. E. SMITH.

RAIL TIE STRUCTURE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 13, i916.

1,237,566. l Patented Aug. 21, 1917.

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MILTON E. SMITH, OF SPOKANE, WASHINGTON.

RAIL-'rin STRUCTURE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented vAue'. 21, 1917.

' Application :filed March 13, 1916. Serial No. 83,887.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, MILTON E. SMi'rii, aA Vcitizen of the United States, residing at Spokane, in the county of Spokane and State of Washington, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bail-Tie Structures, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to improvements in rail tie structures.

It is one of the objects of this invention to mount the rails upon alined sleepers, and to tie the separated rail structures together by gage means in suoli a mannerthatfthe rails will beheld to a true gage position with respect to each other.

'A further object of the invention is to provide a gage bar with end flanges and supported by rail chairs on its ends, the rail chairs of each bar being provided with inwardly and outwardly facing rail engaging gage lugs for engaging onev rail on the outside thereof and the other rail on the inside thereof, this construction providing for end to end alternation of the bars, so that the lugs of the chairs thereof will positively hold the rails to a true gage position. A furtherobject is to provide'an improved form of'sleeper, which is grooved or otherwise cut out in a manner to receive the ends of the gage bars and to act as supports for the rail chairs of the bars.

Other objects and features of my invention will be more fully described in connection withthe accompanying drawing, and will be more particularly pointed out in and by the appended claims.

In the drawing Figure'l is a plan view of a `rail tie structure embodying one form of my invention.

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on line 2-2 of Fig. `1.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of one of the sleepers.

Fig. 4L is a perspective view of one end 'of agage bar, showing one of the rail chairs.

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on line 5-5 of Fig.' 3. Y

Fig. 6 is a sectional view on line 66 of Fig. 3. Y

Like characters of reference designate similar parts thro-ughout the different iigures of the drawing. v y

As illustrated, 1 and 2 designate one of a plurality of pairs of alined sleepers for supporting rails 3 and 1. The sleepers are preferably formed of a ceinentitious material, which is adapted to be molded or cast, such as concrete, and as shown morepartieularly in Figs. 3, 5 and 6, the sleeper comprising an upper supporting face 5, which is reduced in length with respect to the .length of the sleeper, the latter sloping oi as indicated at 6. An inverted T-shaped slot or groove is formed longitudinally of the sleeper, the* head portion 7 of the slot being lowermost and the stem portion 8 extending upwardly to the supporting face 5. TNearing plates 9 are preferably cast in the sleeper so as to prevent the gage bar from wearing the stem portion 8 of the groove or slot, as will hereinafter more fully appear. On the upper face of the sleeper are suitable recesses 10 in which cushioning elements or plates 11 are seated in a manner to lie flush with the supporting face 5. As will be seen more clearly by reference to Fig. 3, the cushioning plates or elements 11 which may be of wood, are reduced in length with respect to the supportingface 5 and are provided with inclined ends 12, which abut against corre.- spondingly inclined ends of the recesses 10 in a manner to hold the cushioning plates in position. The cushioning plates may be cast or molded into the sleeper, or may be at tached thereto after the sleeper is completed. Spike holes 13 are provided in the cushioning elements 11 and extendtherethrough at an angle to the vertical. Spike sockets 14 are formed inthe sleeper in a manner to register with the spike holes 13 of the cushioning plates 11. In` order to enable the sleepers 1 and 2 to be interchangeably used for either rail, the T-shaped grooves extend completely through the sleepers, as will be seen by reference to Fig. 3.

Gage bars connect the opposed pairs of sleepers and each bar comprises a connecting portion 15 having flanges 16 projecting laterally therefrom at itsends, so that the cross section of each end will correspond to the cross section of the groove in the sleeper in which the end of the bar is telescopically i'itted, the ends of the bars being T-shaped in cross section.l The web portion 17 will engage the edges 18 of the Wearing plates tol prevent excessive wear of the upper portion' S of the sleeper groove. On each end of each bar I form, preferably integrally therewith, a rail chair 1S) which is' in the forni of a flat plate adapted to rest upon the cushioning` elements 1l. rll`he rail chair 19 is provided with rail :flange-engaging and positioningl ribs 2O between which the base flanges oi the rails scat so as to initial-ly dispose the rails at truc gage. The rail chair on=one Kend of each gage bar is shown provided with spike holes 21, disposed outwardly from the rail seat between the ribs 'the outer flange of the right vhand Vrail 4.

Now it `will be .seen by reference to adjacent gage Abarsv vin AFig. 1 that .they are ,laid or disposed vin a manner to alternately Areverse the chairs, or the positions of .the chairs, of the .gage -hars so that lug 22 will .engage the 'inside .flange of rail 3 as regards lbar a, whereas lug24 of bar h will engage the outside flange-of .rail 3. |This end for .end disposition .of adjacent bars is carried outinsucha manner that the rails will positively be `held :to a, .true gage position and against .any :spreading action.

From 4the .foregoing description, it will benoted .that so .fa-r as the structure is ,now described, .the .rails are positively connected .or vunited with the gagehars, but the latter and the rails are .not Ipositively united with .the sleepers, as `regards endwise displacement with respect thereto.

5 Before the yrails are Ilaid, `I loosely dispose spikes 25 and '.26 in the alined sleepers andthe same .inaybeelevated slightly bwhen the irails are Ydisposed .in positive engage ment with .the .gage vbars land thereafter forced downwardly .as shown in Fig. 2. Now it twill be seen that .the spikes extend Lthrough the'holes-in therailchairs, andlikewise th-rough `the spikeholes-in'the cushioning elementsinto the socketsofthe sleepers,

.thereby positively uniting `the connected :rails :and gage `bar rmeans with .the sleepers to prevent .any .longitudinal play or displacement of .thelatter'with respect to-the former yand .thereby .insure -a proper 4positioningvoftherail chairs uponthe cushioning (elements. It willthus be seenthat lthe .spikes .functionthe saine as keys to :operatively unite thesleepers with the railsand ;gnge?bai's.

klIt will 4beseenthat spikes 25 act in oppositionlto lugs 22 and that spikes .26 `act in oppositionito ylugs 2.4 andthatallfthe parts are' yinterchangeable and `do not :require the .vertical in the, same right and .left disposition to carry :out the hereinbefore described advantages. Thus it is possible to make all sleepers and all gage bai-s of identical formation with respect to each other.

It -willl Ybe noted that theI spikes are inclined from the vertical, all in the saine direction, with the heads of the spikes nearest .the rails, the inclination being such that the spikes cannot work out or be withdrawn after the rails are in position.l i

It will also be noted that the spike holes 13 in the cushioning elements assist in -holdingthe spikes to true positions without -subjecting` the sleeper sockets to undue wear.

It is believed that the advantages and utility of this invention will be'clearly understood from the foregoing description, and while I have herein shown and described one specific form of my invention, I do not wish vto be liniited thereto except for such limitations as the-claims .may import.

I cla-iniz- 1. In a .rail tie structure, alined sleepers provided with inverted T-shaped grooves below` and opening to their ,rail supporting tops and extending longitudinally through said sleepers, rail cushioning plates on said sleepers7 a gage bar having flangedends corresponding in cross-section to the cross-section of said grooves `and having rail chairs .foi-inedintegrally on 'theends of said bar and `.seated on said cushioning plates, one chair of eachbarhavingan inwardly facing integral railgage lug and :theother chair of such barhaving an outwardly "facing integral rail gage lug wherebyend to'end alternation of adjacent gage bars will'positively A hold .the .rails to a true gage position, substantially asdescribed.

2. In a rail .tie structure, alined .sleepers, Aprovided with .longitudinally disposed Vgrooves therein, a gage .bar .havingfends Aof a cross-section .corresponding to the `crosssection of said :grooves and provided on its ends with rail chairs tor support hy -said sleepers, cushioning elements interposed vloetweensaid chairs andsleepers,.one chair of each .bar having an .integral inwardly .facing rail engaging .gage lug andthe other chair of such har having an outwardly facingin` tegral .rail 1 engaging gage .lug whereby fend vto end alternation of adjacent gage bars will positivelyhold therailstoa true gage posiftion,.andf.spikes disposed onv opposite sides with respect to said gage lugs and engaging the rails and .extending .through the `chairs and cushioning elements into the sleepersrtoy flock the ,parts together, the .spikesofendwise opposite sleepers being inclined 'from direction, substantially asdescribed.

3. In a rail tie structure, `alined sleepers, provided -with longitudinally disposed grooves therein, a gage bar having ends of a cross-section corresponding to the crosssection of said grooves and provided on its ends with rail chairs for support by said sleepers, one chair of eaoh'bar having an integral inwardly facing rail engaging gage lug andthe other chair of such bar having an outwardly facing integral rail engaging gage lug whereby vend to end alternation of adjacent gage bars will positively hold the rails to a true gage position, and spikes disposed on opposite sides of the rails with respect to said lugs and extending through the chairs and into the sleepers at an inclination to the vertical with the head ends of the spikes nearest the rails, substantially as described.

4. In a rail tie structure, alined sleepers, a gage bar provided on its ends with chairs formed integral therewith for support by v said sleepers, one chair of each bar having an integral inwardly facing rail engaging gage lug and the other chair of such bar having an outwardly facing integral rail engaging gage lug whereby end to end alternation of adjacent gage bars will positively hold the rails to a true gage position, and devices engaging the rails and acting in opposition to the lugs and holding the chairs Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the and sleepers in prescribed relation, substantially as described.

5. In a rail tie structure, alined sleepers for supporting opposite rails, a gage bar having rail chairs on its ends for support by said sleepers and integral rail engaging gage lugs, and spikes engaging the rails in opposition to said lugs and extending through said chairs and into said sleepers at the saine angle to 'the vertical with the heads of said spikes nearest said rails, substantially as described. 4 I

6. In a rail tie structure, alined sleepers for supporting opposite rails, a gage bar having rail chairs on its ends for support by said sleepers and the chairvon one end having an inwardly facing rail gage lug and the chair on the other end of said bar having an outwardly facing'rail gage lug, a spike inclined to the vertical outwardly for engagement with the inside of the rail engaged by said inwardlyfacing lug, and a spike inclined inwardly from the vertical for engagement with the outside of the rail engaged by the outwardly facing gage lug, said spikes extending through the chairs and into the'sleepers, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I aHiX my signature.

Y MILTON E. SMITH.

Commissioner of Patents,

Washington, D. C. 

